Gift Baskets to Tirol, Austria

Tyrol has a rich and mysterious history with numerous World Heritage sites, such as the ice cave Haus am Irrsee. There is still so much to explore about this region’s culture and people. Researchers have been able to trace the rise and decline of many settlements since ancient times. Signs of early agricultural villages and settlements surface back in 5000 BC on many different continents. An ancient settlement that was eventually covered by a lake can be traced back to 1800 BC and 1300 BC. From these settlements, two prominent cultures emerged: the Bronze Age culture of the Laugen-Melaun people and the Iron Age culture of the Fritzens-Sanzeno people.

The region was conquered by the Romans in 15 BC. The northern and eastern areas were incorporated into the Roman Empire as the provinces of Raetia and Noricum, leaving deep impressions on their culture and language, with a shared Latin dialect- highly influenced by South Germanic languages. Tyrol and the Ostrogothic Kingdom were ruled by the Goths from 284 to 589. The area was absorbed into Austria in 1803. The Lombards, Bavarii, and Alamanni all ruled over different parts of Tyrol for approximately 356 years. In 553, southern Tyrol became part of the Lombards’, northern Tyrol under the Bavarii’s sphere of influence, and western or Bolzano came under the control of the Alamanni for a very short time.

In 774, Charlemagne united the Franks to conquer the Lombards. The country that would later be known as Austria and Tyrol became an important bridgehead for the Germanic imperial power. The Emperors of the Holy Roman Empire granted Trento, Bolzano, and the Puster Valley to the Bishopric of Trent in 1136 – effectively placing the region under one governance.

In the coming centuries, the counts in Tirol Castle near Merano extended their territory over much of the surrounding areas. Later counts held their territory directly from the Holy Roman Emperor. The Meinhardinger family, originating in Gorizia, controlled the Tyrol, Gorizia, and the Duchy of Carinthia by 1295. By that time “county and reign of Tyrol” had established itself firmly in the “Land on the Adige and Inn”, as the region was then called. After the Meinhardiner Dynasty died out in 1369, the Tyrol region was given to the House of Habsburg, who ruled over it for five and a half centuries until they were taken over by Bavarians in the early nineteenth century.

In 1919, after World War 1, more countries were coming together to form new countries. The Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye ceded part of Tyrol to Italy, leaving the German-speaking people feeling discontent. The historical region is formed by the present-day Austrian State of Tyrol, the Italian provinces of South Tyrol, and Trentino. The boundaries of this Tyrol–South Tyrol–Trentino Euroregion correspond with the former Habsburg County (of) Tyrol – which is no longer a country in its own right but more of a geographical area still.